A project of the Afterschool Alliance.

21st Century Community Learning Centers Final Evaluation Report 2013 (District of Columbia)

Year Published: 2013

This evaluation of the District of Columbia’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program examined results from the program between 2007 and 2012 and found that students in the program made academic and behavioral gains. By the fourth year of operation, nearly half of regular program participants who took part in core content enrichment activities improved their grades from fall to spring. Additionally, among participants in need of improvement, by the fourth year of operation, 68 percent showed improvement in homework completion, 63 percent improved attentiveness, and 61 percent improved classroom behavior. 

Program Name: District of Columbia 21st Century Community Learning Centers

Program Description:

The District of Columbia's 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which receives federal funding through the 21st CCLC initiative, provides afterschool and summer academic enrichment opportunities for children at high-poverty and low-performing schools throughout the state. Between the fall of 2007 and the fall of 2012, 29 subgrantees were awarded funding. Total number of centers ranged from 18 to 35 and total student enrollment ranged from 1,643 to 4,207.

Scope of the Evaluation: Statewide

Program Type: Afterschool

Location: District of Columbia

Grade level: Elementary School, Middle School, High School

Evaluator: Olatunji, A. N. & Patterson, M. B., Align Education, LLC.

Evaluation Methods:

This evaluation used data from multiple sources, including annual student assessments, teacher surveys, and self-reported interim reports of subgrantees. Data were taken from the Profile and Performance Information and Collection System (PPICS). 

Evaluation Type: Non-experimental

Summary of Outcomes:

A 2013 evaluation of the District of Columbia’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program found that students regularly attending the program (30 days or more) made academic and behavioral gains. The evaluation, which looked at four consecutive years of data, found that by the fourth year of operation, nearly half of regular program participants who participated in core content enrichment activities improved their grades from fall to spring. In the first year of operation, 33 percent of program participants made gains in math and 33 percent in reading. By year four, these numbers jumped to 48 and 49 percent, respectively.

In addition to improvements in grades, regular 21st CCLC program participants made gains on standardized tests. On average, about 30 percent of regular program participants in grades 3-8 increased their performance level on both the Language Arts and math state assessments during each year of operation. These numbers ranged from 26 percent to 40 percent of program participants for math, and 29 percent to 40 percent for reading/language arts, higher than the average rate of improvement (5 percent).

Finally, based on teacher surveys, it was found that regular program attendees improved their classroom behaviors. Among regular attendees in need of improvement, by the fourth year of operation, more than 6 in 10 improved homework completion (68 percent), attentiveness in class (63 percent), and classroom behavior (61 percent). 

Date Added: July 7, 2021